ERIE, Pa. -- A fast-thinking McDonald's employee is being heralded as a hero for helping bring the nationwide manhunt for Steve Stephens to an end in Erie, Pa.

"We applaud the crew members at this McDonald’s restaurant who recognized the suspect and did the right thing by quickly alerting the authorities of his location," McDonald's officials tell WKYC in an e-mail statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s loved ones and all of those impacted by this horrific crime."

The worker, who recognized Stephens as the wanted Cleveland Facebook killer, is credited with stalling him at the drive-thru window Tuesday so authorities could have extra response time.

Following a brief police pursuit, Stephens died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Stephens had been on the run for nearly 48 hours after posting grisly video on Facebook of himself shooting and killing 74-year-old Robert Godwin, Sr. at 695 East 93rd Street in Cleveland.

A $50,000 reward was offered in this case, and many people are urging authorities to give the money to the McDonald's employee. The identities of reward recipients, however, are typically kept private.